Rep. Mike Kelly: US Is 'Very Clearly' In a 'Cyberwar'

In light of the recent cyber attack on U.S. Central Command's social media accounts, as well as other recent cyber attacks, Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly tells Newsmax that the United States is "in the middle of a cyberwar" right now.

"[Former Michigan Rep.] Mike Rogers, the former head of the intelligence committee, said there are two types of companies in America right now — those who are being hacked into and know it, and those who are being hacked into and don't know it," Kelly, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, told Ed Berliner on "MidPoint" on Newsmax TV Tuesday.

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"The fact that all of this very vulnerable information is out there and being hacked into continuously is a great concern, but the greater concern is that we don't address this as we're in the middle of a cyberwar," the Pennsylvania Republican explained.

"If this were taking place in our banks or taking place in our businesses where people would be coming in and stealing things, we would be outraged and we would expect some type of a push back on it," he said.

"This idea that somehow it's not going on or it's not as bad as we think, is foolish," he added.

Kelly says that it's key that we "recognize what's going on across the world . . . and very clearly state that we are in a war right now."

He contends that "there is no question in my mind and in some of my colleague's minds that we are in the greatest decline that we have been in a long time, we are exposed in a way we've never been before, and the longer we sit back and say it's not really happening, the more foolish we appear."

According to the Pennsylvania Republican, it's time "to acknowledge it, we need to join with other people around the world and we can defeat this, but it's going to have to be a joint effort by all people."

One of the things that needs to happen in order for Congress to address this problem directly and provide the necessary funding to beef up cyber security is to "allow the appropriations process to take place where Congress, not the executive branch, figures out and channels monies into the right place where we get the best return on our investment," he explained.

"It can be done, but we can't do it through a continuing resolution," he said.

The U.S. Central Command's Twitter and YouTube accounts were hacked by a group claiming support for ISIS terrorists. The military said "that no classified information was posted and that none of the information posted came from CENTCOM's server or social media sites."

However, the hackers did post an old phone directory of officers on CENTCOM's Twitter feed.

This is in addition to major cyber attacks over the last year on Sony, Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase, and Target.

"Every single American looks at it and says whatever you guys are doing, this is obvious — take care of the obvious," Kelly added.

In light of the recent cyber attack on U.S. Central Command's social media accounts, as well as other recent cyber attacks, Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly tells Newsmax that the United States is "in the middle of a cyberwar" right now.